How has your view changed?

[Royal Dragon]

LOL!!!, Kids are way more work than that Bro. Besides, how often do you go out from 5-9 on weekdays? Wait till they need someone home to supervise their homework and stuff. Once your a family man, it literally takes a concious effort to neglect your family to train any respectable amount of time.
I think the only way to realisticaly do it would be to open a school, and have your kids do their homework in the office after school before your classes start.

The other option is to put your Kid in a competetive gymnastics club,and they will be too buy training to notice your not there. But then your neglecting your wife, and at some point you will find she's been doing some guy wile your busy in the Kwoon.

[Fred Sanford]

good example is when Monkey Slapp's phone messed up and called me waking practially my whole house up at like 2:30 Am. I made a humurus thread about it, completely toung in cheek, didn't even get mad about it, and he gets all ****ed off and posts something to the effect of "Don't ever contact me or anyone from my group again".

maybe it's because you made a big deal out of something that wasn't, just like a lil beyatch. you should be more careful what you say, it might come back to haunt you at a future date.

back to the topic at hand. I used to have the utmost respect for shaolin-do, but not anymore. for some reason they just constantly insult me. It really hurts my feelings.

[T'ai Ji Monkey]

RD, got it 100% correct when it comes to Kids and the time that they take out of your life.

And you will be nagged at friom all sides why you spend time at the kwoon rather than taking them to Mc Dees, or why your MA gear costs so much, etc.

Don't forget that the Wife also wants some time to herself and guess who gets to look after the kids than, YOU.

After the 9~5 slog you get home and get bombarded by your kids who want your attention and the Wife that wants you to do some chores.

Don't get me wrong I love my Family but at times you NEED to go somewhere and do your own thing too.

[Royal Dragon]

maybe it's because you made a big deal out of something that wasn't, just like a lil beyatch. you should be more careful what you say, it might come back to haunt you at a future date.

Reply]
See, the so called "Big deal" I made was all in good fun. Everyone got that but him. He's not the only one I've run into like that either. It almost seems to me like the study of martial arts somehow drains a good healthy sense of humur right out of alot of people. Ego's become unusually fragile, and sensitive, to the point where you can't even dissagree about things (In case I'm refering to, the actual things I didn't agree with were never even disclosed) with out being accused of being "Dis-respectfull", or even down right "Insulting" to the person you don't agree with.

If you step OUT of the Martial arts world, and have similar situation about another subject, no one even seems to notice. opinions are respected, debates are just debates and not personal attacks, and differences are nothing more than differances. Heck, I just got into a debate about whether the front suspesnions of the late 80's Camaros were inferior ot the older genration (I say the auto camber adjustment of the SLA suspension during cornering beats the non adjustable Mcphearson strut design of the newer ones). We have two diferent opinions on the subject, we are in total dissagreement on the subject, even engaged in a somewhat heated debate, but guess what, it does not even matter. We are still freinds, and probably allways will be. ONLY in martial arts circles have I seen such trivial things blown so far out of purportion that freindships are ended over them, hostile rivleries develop, and just plain old bad tension exists.

It's like in MA's, independant thinking, opinoins and ideas are grounds for battle. What ever group you follow, you have to worship. if you don't, your ostricised or alienated, or people start talking about you behind your back and everything turns into a challenge, and a headache. You can't stand up and say "Hey, your not even doing what you say you are, infact, your doing what you are telling US is wrong". If you do, YOUR the *******. In the real world, where everyone else lives, if someone Bull****s, and you bust them about it THEY are the *******, not you.

For all this talk of "Honor, respect, humillity" and what not, it seems on a large scale, across all lines, systems and styles, Martial arts training breeds just the opposite. It developes Ego, arrogance, fragile self esteems, obnoxious attitudes and flat out delusions of Grandure. In some cases complete psycotic fantasy worlds (AKA Shaolin Do,Cloud Forest, Chung moo Quan, Temple Kung Fu, Ashida Kim etc...)

I' have been working out in normal health clubs, where people only train to be in shape, and there is none of this. No one cares if you have a difference of opinion.In fact if you do, everyone wants to hear it. Differences of perspective, ideas, and training methodology all coexist simutanioulsy side by side every day, end is not even thought about. It's ALL good. Everyone does their own thing, and they are well respected for it. People help eachother, bounce ideas off eachother and are GENUINELY secure with themselves.

I've had some major changes in thinking about martial arts in the last 3-4 weeks. I've come to the conclusion alot of it exists solely so idiots, and weak minded people with low self esteem can feel good about themselves (example David Kash and his Cloud Forest "Chin Woo").

I'm telling you, I've got MAYBE 3 people I work with or talk to on any sort of regular basis (All of which are secure enough to NOT be insulted if I don't agree with them on something), and 1-2 more I'd like too someday on a one on one basis, but that's really about it. If all the fighting arts ended right now, and ceased to exist forever, it would not matter. The Qi Gong is all that is important.

[David Jamieson]

Life , time and experience will change anyones perspective about any given thing, person or place. That's how the wheel works.

I also have had martial arts in my life for most of it.

But I can't say I've really been a diligent practitioenr except for the last 15 years or so.

I also started when I was a kid. But hey, what do kids know? Nothing that's what. So all that daycare judo,karate and tkd et al doesn't count imo. In fact, I kind of get a chuckle when I hear " I've been a martial artists since I was 8" or something like that.

My perspective has changed in regards to a lot of things. I think that in order to really get a good grasp that you have to internalize and make your own whatever it is you have done. Constant repetition has a purpose, but once you have internalized teh material that was delivered to you, you have to make it your own in order to make is usable.

So, for the most part this means forgetting everything you were taught and taking a whole new approach at practice, For me this is where refinement comes in with a martial art.

Also, I have changed my views in regards to competitive fightiung and see it as a legitimate means to test and prove a martial art. Deadly strikes or not. I completely disregard those peeps who say x% of our art is deadly strikes and they can't be used in a tourney so we don't compete.

To that I say Bwahahahahahahahahaha. What a joke. As if your average ma in some kwoon could actually execute a deadly strike against a living resisting opponent.

I refuse to train anything now without a resisting opponent who is using as much force as possible. THat, to me is the only way to understand if your techs work or if they need work.

Now, granted, I think that some venues are so rule bound and kinda silly, but there are opportunities out there to really get your stuff tuned up.

I'm getting older now and really don't feel a need to prove myself, but i do appreciate learning new things and having resisting, fully resisting partnerts to train with and try the new stuff out. Much better, much more meaningful and useful and much truer to the original methods of martial training.

No more granola for me thanks.

cheers

[Meat Shake]

Granola helps to keep you 'regular'.

[Royal Dragon]

So does rice

[David Jamieson]

I meant "granola" in the figuritive sense.

as in "That granola munching hippy couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag with that style". LOL

cheers

[Volcano Admim]

Originally posted by Meat Shake
Unless you train like 35-50 hours a week, you should have more than enough time for everything else.

nope

a very short undetailed example:
tomorrow i wake up at 6:20am
ill be back home at 11pm

[fa_jing]

Xebs: why not just practice on your own? As well as work out...then maybe pick it back up later as a hobby. Do it on your own terms.

[Bluesman]

Originally posted by Meat Shake
Yeah... It was either that or smoking herb, which Ive cut down significantly. TTT

As someone who smoked waaayy to much. Just say no!
It will take some getting use to...but it is worth it.
Once smoked 18 at a John Cougar and Zone/ Kinks concert, before he was John Melankamp. Drove most of the way back home on the wrong side of the road as I thought it was a one way
I had a built '68 Camaro, 12 bolt 411 posi, M22 transmission, Hurst shifter, 327 with Nitro. When people tried to pass me to get away from this idiot, I thought that they were wanting drag race me and would gun it, let them go and gun it again.
Lucky didn't kill anyone.
Ran my Harley up the side of a hill once. Jumped the ditch with it. Bent the forks right up underneth my bike. Put a small dent into my gas tank with my gonads before flipping over the handle bars. Bled internal from my testicles. Glasses got pushed into my face. Now I have a 3/4" scar where they where stuck untill I pulled them out. Didn't hurt at all...not when your gonads are sending your brain the worst pain that it has ever felt in its life.
I was smoking a little over a oz. a week back then. Other than a few ozs of bourbon etc. I am clean as a whistle. And much happier too.
Of course there are the funny stories as well
LOL , oh to have my youth again